A Bottom-Tier Adventurer Devoted to Supporting Their Idol Activities: Every Time, They Offer Rare Materials and Stir Up the Elites - Episode 27: After the Battle

Episode 27: After the Battle

“Lamberto-san! Everyone’s injuries have healed, but…”

The area around the fortress was full of injured people. Most of the bandit gang had died. And those barely still alive wouldn’t last long.

On the other hand, though the subjugation squad had taken heavy damage, not a single member had died. But instead…

“Lero lero lero lero…”

The potions the masked man had left behind healed any injury. But they had side effects. Apparently, they contained a high concentration of narcotic substances. And everyone who took them ended up in a drugged state, slurring their words. Naturally, their eyes looked dazed too.

“Lamberto-san! We’ve found Tomage!”

The unmoving Tomage was carried in by two men. He was looking as if he were dead. His abdomen was struck by the [Lightning Spear]. It was charred black along with his armor. The internal damage was unimaginable.

“Quick, that potion!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Lamberto’s command, the potion was poured onto Tomage’s body.

“Another one!”

“Yes, sir!”

After half of the second bottle was used, Tomage regained color in his face. He had somehow returned from the brink of death. However, just like the others—

“Lero lero lero lero…”

With dazed eyes, Tomage stuck out his tongue and made the same slurred sound. Seeing this, Lamberto fell deep into thought.

“I might have…”

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing the change in Lamberto’s demeanor, the two men who brought Tomage asked.

“I might have been completely mistaken…”

“Mistaken?”

“Yeah,” 

Lamberto replied and knelt down beside the still-lying Tomage.

Then, clenching his right fist, he punched Tomage in the face.

“Lerole-guh! …Ugh, Lamberto-san…?”

“You awake now, Tomage?”

Tomage rubbed his cheek and slowly sat up.

Then he looked around—at the tree snapped from the root and the burnt lump of flesh lying nearby.

“…Don’t tell me, I did something crazy again while I was unconscious?”

“No, you didn’t.”

Lamberto replied with a straight face. And Tomage stared in confusion.

“No no no. I must’ve Awakened like always and beat the enemy while unconscious, right?”

“…About that, I think I may have misunderstood things.”

Lamberto looked awkward as he spoke.

“Misunderstood…? But my party members said they saw me fighting in an Awakened state before…”

Tomage clung to that hope.

“That was probably a hallucination. The potion you took contained narcotic substances.”

“Narcotic substances?”

Still unconvinced, Tomage was pulled to his feet. Lamberto led him over to an adventurer who was still slurring “Lero lero lero.”

“This adventurer suffered fatal injuries and lost consciousness. But he came back by taking that potion.”

“Lero lero lero lero.”

The adventurer responded vacantly while lying on the ground.

“This is the truth behind everything that’s happened to you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Tomage tilted his head, still not understanding. Lamberto exhaled and began explaining clearly.

“You fought powerful monsters, suffered fatal wounds, and lost consciousness. Then you were given a suspicious but highly effective potion, revived from the brink of death, and began saying ‘Lero lero.’ That’s it.”

Tomage’s face turned pale.

“So… the ones who defeated the Water Elemental Slime and the Demon King… wasn’t me?”

“…Yeah. Probably not.”

Lamberto replied with a pained expression.

“Then who defeated them…?”

“It was probably the masked man who left those potions behind.”

“The masked man…”

“Lero lero lero lero.”

The two of them looked at the slurring adventurer and shared an awkward silence.

#

“What’s wrong, Ellel? You’re spacing out.”

Inside a carriage bound for the capital from the frontier. Ellel was holding her Dragon-shaped staff in both hands and gazing absentmindedly into the air.

Captain Paola noticed and teased her with a mischievous smile.

“Eh? N-nothing!”

Ellel blushed as if someone had seen something embarrassing. Her cheeks were fresh and bright like ripe fruit.

“You were thinking about the masked man again, weren’t you?”

“N-no! I wasn’t thinking about him!”

Ellel denied it fiercely to Paola, who sat across from her.

“No doubt about it. Ellel was thinking about the masked man. I can tell.”

Vice-Captain Curry was also in the carriage. She chimed in and joined the teasing.

“But Ellel, no matter how strong he is, it’s best not to fall for that masked guy. He’s clearly a weirdo. He was hiding in the bushes spying on our battle, after all.”

“Yeah, and he was shouting weird nonsense too.”

With both of them pointing it out, Ellel drooped her head in shame.

Clutching her Dragon staff tightly, she gently touched the red gem.

Ellel was certain.

That gray-haired masked man was the “passing-by adventurer.”

That “passing-by adventurer” wasn’t spying on the battle—he was watching over her.

The reason he suddenly appeared shouting loudly was to save her.

When she had faced the lightning mage, Ellel had been trembling.

If the masked man had been even a single blink slower in arriving, she wouldn’t have been able to stay standing.

She would’ve lost her life in an instant.

‘Thank you.’

She whispered softly so no one could hear. She then caressed the red gem once more.

The carriage continued slowly on its way toward the royal capital.